Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Most people avoid the number 13 like the plague, considering it to be unlucky. But one man in Kerala is trying to change that.

Anglo-Indian legislator Simon Britto has requested the Assembly Speaker to allot him room 13 at the Legislature Hostel. Britto, a victim of campus violence and confined to a wheelchair, hasn’t had much luck in life but cannot tolerate the superstition around the number.

Interestingly, Britto was allotted room 12B at the hostel. The room should have normally been numbered 13 but was numbered 12B instead and the previous room 12A. “I am a Marxist and an atheist. I am not superstitious and scared of the number 13. It is unbecoming of a legislator to succumb to such baseless fears,” he said.

As in many other countries, buildings in India rarely have a 13th floor, hotels a room 13 or aeroplanes a 13th row. “See, someone has to take an initiative to bust this myth. Now I feel it is the lucky number,” says Britto.

The fear of 13 — called triskaidekaphobia — is not just confined to the lawmakers’ chambers. A year ago, when the new Left ministry assumed office, the housekeeping wing of the tourism department was reluctant to allot an official car bearing the board ‘Kerala State 13’. Finally, state education minister MA Baby came forward to accept it.

Even the courts have fallen victim to this fear. The Kerala High Court did not have a judge’s chamber with the number 13. The Supreme Court intervened and declared that there should be no room for superstition in the judiciary. In reaction, the judges’ chambers (24 of them) were renumbered chamber 1 A to D and so on, so the number 13 could still be avoided. Old-timers say the court once had a chamber 13 till 1990 but many occupants died in harness. It still does not have a court 13.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Sky News, United Kingdom - 20 Jul 2007A river on Tyneside could become Britain's answer to the Ganges as the place for people to scatter the ashes of their loved ones. conitue

See also:

Hindus, Sikhs allowed to scatter ashes of dead in UK riverThe Times of India, 21 Jul 2007LONDON: Hindus and Sikhs in Britain are allowed to scatter ashes of their loved ones in designated part of Derwent river in northern England, it was officially stated on Saturday.

Sam Reed of Gateshead Council said Hindus and Sikhs have been allowed to scatter the ashes in the Derwent, which flows to the river Tyne, for at least five years. continue reading

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Mon Jul 16, 3:57 PMLONDON (AFP) - A court on Monday quashed a decision to slaughter a sacred bull which tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, after protests by Hindu monks and nuns.The ruling by the High Court in Cardiff, Wales, was immediately hailed by the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) as "a landmark judgment in the history of religious worship" in Britain. continue reading

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Posted by David Romanellion Tue, Jul 03, 2007, 1:41 pm PDT Feelings are much like waves. We can't stop them from coming, but we can choose which one to surf." -Jonatan Mårtensson

In the Western world, we think of strength as big muscles, heavy weights, physical power. But in the ancient Eastern cultures, strength means something entirely different. The yogis think of strength more as an ability to overcome powerful emotions such as anger and jealousy.

In the heat of the moment, a normal person (myself included) will want to lash out. In her song "White Trash Deco," country singer Cynthia Ford catches her husband cheating and responds with anger and jealousy by maxing out his credit cards to misdecorate his house. The words go like this:click here for the full article

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A British employment tribunal has ruled a teaching assistant was not a victim of religious discrimination after her school gave her a hard time when she refused the reading of a Harry Potter book in class.Sariya Allan, 47, was a teaching assistant at Durand Primary School in Stockwell, England. She gave a seven-year-old student a book to read but the student found it too easy and picked up a Harry Potter book. Continue reading @ The Witches' Voice Inc.

Vegetarians demand meat-free mallsFOOD FOR THOUGHT: Malls are currently doing a balancing act between consumer sentiments and making profits. Saturday , July 07, 2007 IBNLive

Mumbai: You’ve heard of niche marketing, but this could be new. Vegetarians in Mumbai are now demanding meat-free mall...

This is the latest battle between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in Mumbai. Pro-vegetarian groups like the Maharashtra Gopalan Samiti have launched a campaign against malls selling non-vegetarian items. continue reading

Religious diversity: Can we talk? By Stephen V. Sundborg, Special to The TimesThe second obstacle to engaging one another within our religious diversity is that most of what separates us from one another is not belief or religious practice, but the cloud of culture all religions create around themselves. There is a Catholic culture, a Protestant culture, an Anglican culture, a Jewish culture, a Muslim culture. All religions create these thick cultures from ritual, customs and tradition. They are not the religion; they are its cloud, its skirt, its exterior, not its interior.

Resource book for multifaith work prepared, Vancouver, BC,The diocese's Multifaith and Ecumenical Unit has produced a Resource Book for Programmes of Interfaith Dialogue to help parishes and other groups interact with non-Christian faith communities in their localities.

You are God's Piccolo, By Fr Adolf, Deccan Herald, Bangalore Think of yourself as a chip of stone in the hands of God the sculptor of your life. Think of yourself as the piccolo player in orchestra of God the great conductor. Don't be discouraged.

Mukesh Ambani pays 16 lakh to Wakf board, gets NOCMumbai: Mukesh Ambani’s Rs 100-crore dream home plan, said to be the world’s most expensive city mansion, may now realise after remaining in a land-transfer controversy.The Maharashtra Waqf Board has issued a no-objection certificate for the deal after receiving a payment of Rs 16 lakh from Ambani. However, the clearance from the Wakf Borad has now sparked fresh controversy.

State to pay pujas in old temples Deccan Chronicle on the web Hyderabad, July 9: To prevent the possibility of religious conversions at the village level, the endowments department has decided to revive pujas and rituals in all old temples. As a first step, the department would extend financial support to 4,000 temples out of 32,000 in the State. It will give Rs 1000 for pujas and Rs 1,500 as honorarium to priests.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams will allot grants for the effective implementation of the scheme. It is expected benefit archakas who have been demanding salaries for the several years on par with priests of 21 big temples. According to the guidelines issued by the department, temples which require grants should be listed in Section 6 of the Endowments Act. The temples should have been constructed at least 25 years ago and should not have an income of more than Rs 30,000 per year. Committees running the temples have been asked to apply before July 18.

District level committees appointed by the government will verify the physical condition of the temples before issuing the grants. Officials expect that regular spiritual activity in the villages will prevent people from converting to faiths other than Hinduism. According to them, people are being attracted towards other faiths since there is nobody to explain the culture and traditions of Hinduism. "Temples play a vital role in preserving our heritage and culture. They will also inculcate unity among the people. So we have decided to extend financial support to all temples in a phased manner," said endowments commissioner P. Sundara Kumar.

Purposeful site, By KAREN HEINSELMAN, Courier Staff Writer WATERLOO --- About seven years ago, Emily Sullivan and her family were preparing to move from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Northeast Iowa. To familiarize herself with the area, she researched her future hometown online.One of the family's priorities was a place to worship."I was trying to find out what church we might want to visit," Sullivan said.She found a church Web site that, by her definition, was fairly basic at the time. But Sullivan also discovered what she was looking for: information about women's groups and children's programming. Both ministries are important to her family.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Today's Daily Mail had the slightly ridiculous story of UK churches being forced to display non-smoking signs ... Compulsory 'no smoking' signs in churches are 'daft', says Dean. I'm not sure what Jesus has to say about smoking, but yesterday I found out about Mohammed and Islam's views of smoking - courtesy of this clever little leaflet they were giving out at the chemist. It was produced with the co-operation of the Muslim Council, and makes it clear that smoking is against the Koran and Muslim law.Conitnue reading the full articlesee also:

Saturday, July 07, 2007

6 Jul, 2007 l 0026 hrs ISTlAmit Bhattacharya / TIMES NEWS NETWORKNEW DELHI: Remember the hype and phobia over June 6 last year as the date 6/6/06 was associated with the Devil? Well, the buzz around this coming Saturday is even bigger. For, 07/07/07 in the Western world is being associated with perfection.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Holy Father's address at Basilica of St. Paul Outside the WallsROME, Jul 2, 2007 (CNA) .- While preparing for the celebration of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome on Friday, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the importance of the Apostle Paul for Christians today and announced that the year dedicated to him will focus on ecumenism.The Holy Father was at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to begin the solemnity honoring the two saints who helped found the Church. Speaking about St. Paul, the Pope said that he, "was 'set apart for the Gospel of God,' to spread the announcement of divine grace that, in Christ, reconciles man with God, with himself and with others." continue reading: Year dedicated to St. Paul

Our diverse media posted by Rod Dreher @ Beliefnet: Crunchy Con - Conservative blog, Beliefnet conservative politics and religion blogMy Dallas Morning News colleague Bruce Tomaso, a contributor to the paper's religion blog, draws attention to a Chicago Tribune survey of its features staff. The staff asked itself which magazines it read, and did a story on the Top 50.

Our point is to take a traditional ultra-nationalist holiday with its theme of "bombs bursting in air," and American triumphalism, and reshape it in two ways:

A. to affirm all the good in America, particularly the struggles of ordinary citizens that led to the expansion of democratic rights and civil liberties throughout the past two hundred and thirty one years.

B. to affirm that in the 21st century there is no such thing as "independence" without affirming and thinking in terms of our inter-dependence with all other people on the planet, and with the planet itself--so our celebration seeks to transcend chauvinist nationalism and affirm a democratic and human-rights and generosity-oriented internationalism. continue reading

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Info courtesy: William J. Kopycki, University of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Beaudin, Yale University Library @ "melanet-l"

"One of the key messages of the Sacred exhibition is about learning how sacred texts can be interpreted today; do they still have relevance and meaning to life in 21st century Britain? We've created two interactive resources on our Learning website to help explore these questions. Try them out here and let us know what you think!"Continue

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Multifaith Calendar

A source of accurate dates and descriptions of over
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